


dread is she

by Romennim



Series: The Big Short [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angst, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Female Friendship, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Loki is strangely nice, Mythology - Freeform, Odin's A+ Parenting, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 21:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9203042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romennim/pseuds/Romennim
Summary: When Mjöllnir hits the Earth, Darcy remembers her true self.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this came from, I swear. My brain goes to unexpected places when I read the prompts on Rough Trade. Also, Loki is strangely nice here. That too, I don't know where it came from.
> 
> Written for the prompt "Darcy Lewis" for The Big Short Challenge on Rough Trade.
> 
> Betaed by the lovely ladychild.

When Mjöllnir hits the Earth, something violently breaks inside Darcy. The air rushes out of her lungs and she almost seizes. Inside, her true self loses the cage that has been keeping her docile and unaware for two lifetimes. She takes a deep breath. Then, in the blink of an eye she’s furious. The next second the van she’s driving hits something and she pushes on the brakes.

“Darcy, oh my God, are you okay?” Jane cries. “What did we hit?”

Darcy barely hears her. Decades of memories are trying to sort themselves into order and they drown out Jane’s cries and Erik’s grumbling. Almost in a daze she gets out of the van. There’s a man lying on the ground. He looks strangely familiar, though. When he stands, shouting at the sky for his father and Heimdall, it all clicks into place.

 _What the hell have you done now, old man?_ , she thinks bewildered, and then another memory hits her and the rage is back.

With a snap of her fingers, Thor collapses on the ground, unconscious. Jane starts to turn towards her, disbelief and fear painting her features, but Darcy just snaps her fingers again.

They all reappear in the house they had left half ah hour ago, but it seems like decades to Darcy. Jane is trembling and something like dread settles into Darcy's chest. There will be no easy camaraderie after this, no friendship. Darcy tells herself that there was no other way things could go, that there's someone out there who needs her more than Jane ever will, but Jane was her _friend_ , goddammit.

"What..." Jane stammers out. "What-I don't understand. Darcy, what-?"

Darcy looks at Jane for a moment. Her closest friend, one of the most brilliant minds Darcy has ever encountered in all her lives, but, mostly, her friend. The Darcy of an hour ago would try to smirk, to joke and lighten the situation. She's not just that Darcy anymore.

"I'm sorry, Jane." she says, taking a step towards her friend. The flash of uncertainty (of fear?) that passes through Jane's eyes makes Darcy nauseous. She stops and looks away. "I would try and explain, but I have a few things to take care of first."

"What? What do you mean, what things-?"

"Please take care of Thor for me, okay?" Darcy interrupts Jane firmly. "He's sleeping in my bedroom, but he'll wake soon."

Then, before Jane can say something else, Darcy flashes to Jane's side. Jane freezes, but Darcy just leans in and kisses her friend's cheek.

"Take care, my friend." she whispers against Jane's skin. Then she's gone.

***

She puts a protective ward around the house where Jane, Erik and Thor are residing. Then she appears near Mjöllnir and does the same. Odin has already cast a pretty powerful spell, but you can never trust the shadows. That done, she travels until she finds the Tesseract, kept into a government facility. At least it's not in Hydra's hands anymore.

A wave of fear and rage overwhelms her at the thought and she fades away the way as she has come, S.H.I.E.L.D. none the wiser.

She travels to Europe and she searches, but she can't find him.

With a groan of frustration she appears in the desolation of the Sahara desert and shouts at the sky.

"Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

Heimdall acquiesces to her request.

***

She appears like thunder in Odin's throne room, her eyes flashing fire. Guards scramble towards her, but Odin is immediately on his feet. Surprised, Darcy can tell.

"Leave her be." the King of Asgard commands, before seating back down. In his eyes Darcy sees the exhaustion, the Odin sleep almost upon him. But she has no patience, nor compassion, for the old man.

"Where is he, Father?" Darcy demands, her voice like a thousand shouts. She sees from the corner of her eyes the whole court's shocked reaction. Beside the throne, Loki's eyes widen and Frigga starts. Darcy does not care. "Where is my beloved Eros?"

It is almost seven decades that she hasn't thought of nor said out loud that name. Seven decades that had been stolen from her by evil and cruel humans, that the only person still alive that she'd cared about had been kidnapped. Seven decades, for heaven's sake.

But no human could have done anything to her without the help of a powerful artifact, an artifact that should have been kept safe. An artifact _Odin_ should have kept safe. The insistent voice inside her that whispers of betrayal cannot be ignored.

"I didn't say anything when you were injured, Father, when you abandoned us against Thanos, when that monster slaughtered almost all of us. But we survived and I didn't care that you built back a life for yourself." Darcy glances at Frigga, then her eyes rest for a moment on Loki, before flashing back towards Odin. The Father of the Gods looks pale and old, and Darcy feels a stab of vindication. "I didn't say anything when my half-brothers were born and you didn't even invite me to meet them, but Eros, Father? How could you take him away from me?"

Silence descends on the throne room after Darcy's words. It settles uncomfortable and heavy with expectations. Darcy keeps her eyes on Odin.

When Odin speaks, it feels like eons have passed.

"Athena, my daughter," he says, while Loki sharply glances at him. "I'm innocent of whatever happened to Eros. I never interfered with your mortal lives."

Oh, the irony. The price to survive Thanos, becoming mortals, that was the moment she and Eros had lost all the appeal they had to Odin. Zeus- _Odin_ had always been such a bastard. And a liar.

"Maybe." Darcy allows, putting all her disbelief she is capable of in her voice. "But yours was the duty of keeping the Tesseract safe. How do you think humans were able to subdue us, Father? Or didn't you even bother to check what happened to us?"

The minuscule twitch of Odin's expression is enough answer for Darcy. For a moment, words fail her. Then the rage pushes her past the shock and right into cold, unforgiving acceptance.

"You ungrateful bastard." she hisses and half the court gasps in horror. Darcy ignores them all. "I will find Eros and I will discover how we were found. I hope for your sake you weren't involved somehow, or Death's thirst for your demise will be nothing compared to my justice." she says. Then with a swift glance into Loki's direction, she adds: "Now I know why you inspire no loyalty."

She marches back out of the room. No one stops her.

***

"Become visible or get lost, Loki." Darcy says while she walks the path back to the Bifrost. In her visit she might not have garnered information about Eros' location, but she has learned something else.

Loki appears and throws her a speculative glance.

"How did you know?" he asks.

"What do you want?" she parries back.

Loki looks away for a moment.

"I never knew about Odin's past life, or of you. I'm curious. And willing to help you find your...?" the question trails off suggestively. Darcy ignores it.

"So you'll give up on your little plans just to go gallivanting with me on Earth?" she asks, a bit incredulous.

Loki sends her a startled glance, but his face smooths out immediately.

"Don't even try to lie. I've been the Goddess of wisdom, strategy and craft for much longer that you've been alive. I don't care what you do to Odin. Just don't hurt your brother. You could learn he's the only redeeming family you've got." Darcy added, the memory of Ares sacrificing himself when Odin left them still too fresh for comfort. "And don't scoff. That too I know from experience. And Thor isn't bad, just naive and rash. He's not insensitive."

"How do you know that? Experience?" Loki almost scoffs.

Darcy smirks at him.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." she says and walks inside Heimdall's reign. She looks back at her misunderstood half-brother and feels a pang of sympathy at his blank expression. He obviously wants to come with her and Asgard can deal with a Queen as long as the Odin's sleep will last. It will do the reign some good.

"So, are you coming or not? I could use a magical user where I'm going. I'm only a mortal after all."

***

They take the Tesseract back. Darcy doesn't think of it as stealing since it was never intended for mankind. Then they start looking for Eros. Darcy has to admit having Loki with her makes a huge difference. She wouldn't have found the Hydra facility in such a short time on her own.

The sight of her beloved Eros, broken and frozen like a piece of meat, is too much for her. She destroys the facility and every one of its agents in less than five minutes, while Loki watches her and protects Eros from the collapsing building.

When she's done, she takes a step towards Eros, then another. Loki silently opens the machine and unfreezes Eros' body. Only then Darcy sees Eros' metal arm and gasps. What did those animals-

But now it's not the time. With a tentativeness she's never had to use, she caresses Eros' hair, then his cheeks. It takes all her strength not to burst in tears and despair.

"They are going to pay." she says. "They are all going to pay, I swear. Oh, Eros, I'm so sorry." she says and throws herself on him. "Please, please, wake up." she whispers, her forehead touching his.

She barely hears Loki muttering spells. Eros has to wake up. He has to! Darcy can't wait another life to get him back. She can't.

"His mind is fractured." Loki murmurs. "It will take intensive healing. He might not recognize you." _Ever_ , it goes unsaid, but Darcy can't believe it.

She takes a deep breath and gets up.

"He will." she says, full of faked confidence. "Please, wake him up."

Loki nods and passes one of his hands above Eros' head. A bright, green light shines. When it dissipates, Eros gasps and opens his eyes.

"Hey, hey, Eros, I'm here, I'm here." Darcy says, squeezing Eros' hand. "You are safe, I swear."

Blue eyes Darcy remembers from two lifetimes ago settle on her, confused and frightened.

"Κήδειου, μή ἰδιάζει. Σύν σοί εἰμί." she tenderly says. "Σύν σοί εἰμί."

She repeats the words. _You are not alone, I'm with you_. The words sear her heart. She should have been with him when all this happened, not just now.

After she doesn't know how long, something flicks over Eros' face.

"Ἀθηνᾶ," he croaks out. The relief Darcy feels is like water in the desert. "Athena," Eros coughs out. "Where-what-"

"It doesn't matter. You are safe, Eros."

Eros looks around, and fear starts mounting back, Darcy can tell.

"You are safe, Eros," she repeats, squeezing his hand. "Believe me."

"But, where is... where is...."

"What?" Darcy asks. "Who?"

Eros' forehead furrows and he starts to tremble.

"I don't-I don't remember!" he exclaims, panicked. "I don't-why don't I remember, Athena?"

Eros' trembling starts to become violent, and he seizes. Darcy watches it unfold, frozen, until a golden light settles on Eros and he quietens, unconscious.

"It's time to go." Loki says quietly.

"Yes," Darcy replies in a daze. "Please, get us out of here."

"Look at me, Athena." he entreats. Darcy does. His eyes are shining, a strange, red hue coating the prominent green. "You will get your vengeance."

Darcy doesn't correct Loki. She just nods. She is the Goddess of Justice, not vengeance, even if she's just a mortal now. But justice won't be distinguished from vengeance once she's done with whoever did this to Eros. Of that, she is sure.

**Author's Note:**

> I did all the translations myself, but it's been more than a decade since I studied ancient Greek and, to be honest, I was taught to translate _from_ ancient Greek, not _to_. That makes quite the difference when you learn a language.
> 
> Κήδειου, μή ἰδιάζει: darling, you are not alone.
> 
> Σύν σοί εἰμί: I am (here) with you.
> 
> Ἀθηνᾶ: Athena (this, I didn't translate ;))
> 
> ***
> 
> Title taken from the Homeric Hyms by Hesiod:
> 
> "OF Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing. Dread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go out to war and come back.  
> Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!"


End file.
